[2] Three of the 18 competitors from the 1972 coxed pair Final A returned: Oldřich Svojanovský and Pavel Svojanovský, the rowers from the silver-medal Czechoslovakia boat, and Yuriy Lorentsson, the coxswain of the fifth-place Soviet Union crew.

East Germany had won the 1972 Olympics and 1975 World Championship, but sent a different crew after Harald Jährling, Friedrich-Wilhelm Ulrich, and Georg Spohr defeated the reigning champions in Grünau in May.

Primo Baran, a member of the 1968 Italian gold medalist team, returned after not being selected for the coxed pair in 1972.

France and the United States each made their 12th appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.

The coxed pair event featured three-person boats, with two rowers and a coxswain.